Covid: Pfizer vaccine gap extended on Isle of Man

The interval between doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on the Isle of Man has been extended to up to 10 weeks.

Until now, only the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine had been administered with the longer gap on the island.

It means the time between doses for all coronavirus vaccines is now the same.

Health Minister David Ashford said increasing the interval would "get vaccines into the arms of an overall larger number of people".

More than 30,000 jabs have now been administered since the start of the rollout, with almost 10,150 people having received both doses.

It means almost 12% of the island's population of 85,000 has now received both jabs.

Appointments for second jabs already booked before the change to the Pfizer regime would still be honoured, Mr Ashford said.

He said the change had been a "balanced decision" to help protect more people more quickly as a surge in new cases on the island continues.

The government had previously said the jab would continue to be given in line with the manufacturer's guidelines of 28 days between doses until more studies had taken place.

The delivery of vaccines on the island was accelerated this week, with about 1,000 people receiving a jab each day at the island's two mass vaccination hubs.

Mr Ashford said it was a busy time for staff, but the scheduled delivery was "progressing well" as the island responded to "the unwelcome consequences" of the latest wave of infections.

He added: "We will continue to monitor our vaccine delivery schedule closely and adjust our modelling and roll-out to best meet the island's needs."

Why not follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and Twitter? You can also send story ideas to [email protected]